Who are your influences?: Pain, craziness, god and all the things in between god and craziness, Ruth Brown, Tom Waits, Nina Simone

Describe your nominated work: How it feels to be involved with a man that is plain and simply crazy and that no matter what we can do or say to try to make a difference, they still remain crazy. The song was recorded in Clarksdale Mississippi with an all female back up band. The ladies that recorded the song with me travelled from all over to record for the Blues Women International project.

Were there any happy accidents while in the studio, or did everything go as planned?: During this recording, women from all over the world gathered in Clarksdale to record original songs with an all woman back up band, this is itself was a major feat. Myself and my partner Reno jack travelled from Northern Ontario in January where the temperatures were -40 for many days before hand, so cold that the battery died the day before we were about to leave, and drove straight through to Mississippi meeting up with new musical partners to record at the historic Hopson Commissary. The piano we used for the recording was a grand piano that was previously played by such famous artists as Pine Top Perkins and John Lee Hooker. It was a magical place full of history and a magical project.

Why did you choose to submit this work to The 13th IMAs?: I love the fact that the IMA’s choose songs that are out of the ordinary, so I chose this song to submit, as it is blues but has a very different type of sound, and encompasses the emotions that are within the subject matter of the song.

What’s your definition of success and how will you know when you’ve achieved it?: I contemplate this every day. Every artist has to wonder about this. My definition of success has more to do with my ability on the instrument, as I am growing and learning all the time. And of course to hit someone deeply with a tune inside of themselves is a success too. Business success in music is a much different beast!!

How will you leverage your IMA honors to achieve your career goals?: I plan on utilizing the IMA nominee seal on all my promotional materials, posters, website as well as contact the regional press with the IMA press release. This is my second nomination, and I am grateful for all the support the IMA team put together to help out the artists.

Who’s sitting in your audience and what makes your fans unique?: Women ages 30 -60 seem to be the ones that I reach regularly. Women who have lived life and have loved and lost and grieved and experienced addiction and death are the ones that I speak to with my music the most.

What is your guilty pleasure on the road? Any close calls or mishaps while on tour?: Guilty pleasure on the road? Watching tv in hotel rooms.

Who are your musical heroes & influences?: Musical heroes: volunteer djs, my partner reno jack, my father, my mother who supported artists all her life and my children Lucas and Dawson. Musical influences: Ruth Brown, Bessie Smith, Tom Waits, Jerry Lee Lewis, Professor Longhair and of course all the bad things I have had to endure thus far that force me to sing and write.

What artists are you listening to that would surprise your fans?: I love rap, electronic and hip hop music.

How do you discover new music? Do you buy music or are you content with streaming?: I get musical recommendations all the time from friends and fans but generally it’s the music that my two sons recommend that I like the most.

How will musicians make a living if fans continue to expect music to be free?: Musicians must diversify in their skill set in order to earn a living from their music. They must. I publicly comment often to the fact that people want something for free, but if they could take something for free they could give something back to the artist; REVIEW the music, RATE the MUSIC, REQUEST the music on their favorite radio station. Artists are treated like they are a governmental office and only purpose is to offer a service to the public, which is untrue. Thankfully there are numerous ways fans contribute to art thru fan funding campaigns, this enables fans to give back. Being a musician in todays world takes more skills then just having a great song or a talent.

What don’t fans/audiences understand about the music industry today?: I am not sure if fans understand that requesting music on their favorite stations would help indie artists out.

Are digital singles/EPs vs. full albums the future?: I love full albums, as it’s a story and huge wave of emotions that change from song to song with a different but similar tale. Radio campaigns within my genre is very difficult with digital only, as many radio djs prefer play copy’s of the cd.

Finish this sentence: The music industry is…is not a business, it’s the same thing as walking into a casino, the only difference is the coins might have some talent.

What do you have in the works for the upcoming year?: We just launched a brand new CD called HE DIGS ME, out February 2014, and already receiving worldwide play on Country, Blues and Roots radio stations.